People v. Jackson

The People of the State of New York, Plaintiff,v.Chaquan Murphy Jackson, Defendant.

Sandra
Doorley, Monroe County District Attorney (Alyssa Zongrone,
Assistant District Attorney, of counsel) for plaintiff.

Timothy Donaher, Monroe County Public Defender (Marc
Infantino, Assistant Public Defender, of counsel) for
defendant.

DECISION AND ORDER

ELLEN
M. YACKNIN, J.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant
Chaquan Murphy Jackson is charged with the misdemeanor of
criminal trespass in the second degree. On January 4, 2018, a
Wade hearing was held to determine whether the
showup identification procedures used by the police in this
case were unconstitutionally suggestive. For the reasons
stated below, defendant's motion to suppress the
witness's identification of him is granted.

FACTUAL
BACKGROUND

At the
hearing, Rochester Police Officer Giovanni Maldonado
testified for the People. Defendant presented no evidence.

According
to the credible evidence, at about midnight on November 4,
2017, Rochester Police Officer Maldonado responded to a
dispatch call about a man who was reported to be looking
through parked cars and checking house doors on Barrington
Street in Rochester, New York. In response to the call,
Officer Maldonado drove to 94 Barrington Street to speak to
the caller, Thomas Szatko.

When
Officer Maldonado arrived, Mr. Szatko showed him a video
recording from his home security system that showed the man
in question walking up Mr. Szatko's driveway, trying to
open the doors to the cars in the driveway. The video
recording also showed the man going onto to the enclosed back
porch of Mr. Szatko's house, opening the door, and
remaining there for almost a minute before leaving. The man
in question was wearing a white hooded shirt with the letters
"USA" on the back and dark jeans, and he had a mask
over his face.

After
watching the video recording, Officer Maldonado initially
searched the neighborhood for the man, but then sat in his
car on East Avenue near Barrington Street. While there, he
saw defendant, who was dressed in dark jeans and a white hood
shirt with the letters "USA" on the back, walking
on the sidewalk. Officer Maldonado approached defendant, and
asked if he could talk to him and to remove his hands from
his pockets. As defendant began to remove his hands from his
pockets, he suddenly ran away. Officer Maldonado chased
defendant and eventually apprehended him near University
Avenue and Portsmouth in Rochester, New York at around 1:08
a.m.

After
defendant was apprehended, arrangements were made for Officer
Santiago to drive defendant back to 94 Barrington Street so
that a showup could be conducted with Mr. Szatko. In the
meantime, Officer Maldonado went back to 94 Barrington Street
and told Mr. Szatko and Mr. Szatko's young adult son, who
was present, that he apprehended a man after chasing him on
foot on University Street, and that it was a good thing that
he was in pretty good shape. Officer Maldonado explained to
Mr. Szatko that the police were going to show him a person
who may or may not have been the person whom Mr. Szatko had
seen, and to let Officer Maldonado know if the man he was
about to see was the man he had observed earlier. In
response, Mr. Szatko told Officer Maldonado that he would not
be able to identify the man's face but he would be able
to identify the man's clothes.

As
Officer Maldonado was preparing the showup paperwork, Mr.
Szatko asked him whether or not the man that Officer
Maldonado had apprehended was wearing a mask. In response,
Officer Maldonado told Mr. Szatko that the man had had
something in his hand but that he didn't know what it
was.

In
preparation for the showup, Officer Maldonado stood next to
Mr. Szatko, who was looking out of the window next to his
front door. Mr. Szatko's son, who was in the same room,
first looked out of the same window that his father was
looking at, and then moved to another window. While he was
looking out the window, Mr. Szatko's son asked Officer
Maldonado whether the defendant had gloves on when he was
caught. In response, Officer Maldonado said that he was not
allowed to answer that question. At around 2:00 a.m.,
defendant was removed from the patrol car ...

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